Worlds That Collide
by Dean.is.Batman
Summary: The Doctor and Hermione Granger spend a bit of an evening together. 11th Doctor. Future Harry Potter.


A pale index finger uncurled and pushed against the back of a Knight chess piece, forcing it forward into battle. Harsh shadows outlined the wary Bishop as Hermione Granger bit her lip to keep her tell from speaking.

"Check." An alien voice, too soft and perfect, broke the silence.

Hermione raised a dark eyebrow and smirked as she ushered her King to safety.

"Your turn, Doctor." She replied.

The familiar hum of the TARDIS kept the silence comfortable.

The time traveling Doctor had stumbled across the witch during one of his lonely runs. They had ended up playing chess in a tavern called the Leaky Cauldron and then he had invited her back to his place for drinks and ice cream. After entering the blue box - bigger on the inside and, oh, so amazing - she had not looked back.

"How is your friend, Mr. Potter?" The Doctor asked in the pause between moves.

Hermione smiled wide, her hazel eyes filled with contentment and joy. "He just got accepted as an Auror for the Ministry of Magic." She replied. "I am very happy for him...the first good thing he's had happen in over 22 years."

Hermione was on the cusp of her twenty-third birthday, but The Doctor knew better than to mention age in her presence. The first night they had argued for hours over his own age and now he stayed well clear of the subject.

Hermione Granger seemed to think that no one as old as him had any right to look so young. The Doctor had told her to come back in nine hundred years and see what she thought then about the merits of aging gracefully. She is still young enough to cherish her god-given looks and guard them fiercely.

The Doctor brushed a hand over his lips before reaching forward and putting his Bishop into the line of fire from one of her remaining pawns.

"Check."

She took the bait and slaughtered his Bishop with one flick of her wrist. "Un-check." She said precociously.

He leaned against his elbow, supporting the upper part of his body with the one arm, leaving his other arm to travel above the board so that his fingers can jump between the pieces. He flicked them, turned them over and picked them up only to replace them exactly where they were. An exotic, eccentric dance of thought.

He settled on moving his own King to safer ground.

"Might as well throw in a moat while you're at it." Hermione joked with a grin. "There's no way I'm breaching that kind of security."

The Doctor laughed even as he agreed with her in his own self-important way. Hermione could indulge the Time Lord some preening, it was his Time Machine after all. She flipped a curtain of dark blond hair over one shoulder.

"Been on any good adventures lately?" She asked to pass the time.

She loved to hear about his journeys. The places he had seen and the people he had changed. It made her envious, but she could never leave Harry or Ron. A game of chess was the closest she went to travelling with The Doctor and it always would be.

He breathed in deep through his nose and exhaled loudly. "Ye-eah. I suppose so. Had a delusion or two, met the dark part of myself again." He added. "Had a good-mare about a friend of mine, Amelia."

Hermione's eyebrows arched like twin bows. "Sounds like a fine old time." She quipped.

"Cold, actually." He commented. "Very cold. Involved a cold star - though that was a dream too."

"Sorry, your stories are always so fantastic. Didn't realize you had only dreamed that one."

"Delusion...see that?" He said, referring to his earlier statement. He laughed. "Fought a war since the last time we played chess."

"Win?"

"You have seen me play chess, right?" He asked with another laugh, his eyes twinkling.

"So, win it is." She answered for him.

He did not say anything further, distracted by the board. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then sat up straight, moving his Queen forward with a flourish.

"Checkmate."

Hermione hated to hear that word. It meant another night was over. She never stayed past the checkmate. It seemed like tempting fate if she did. With a heavy sigh she threw her scarf around her neck, it was cold outside, and stood to her feet. A wave of her wand re-stashed the game in it's box and sent it back in the wardrobe where The Doctor kept it.

"So, goodbye for now?" He asked, looking a sad to see her go.

She nodded, wishing for the hundredth time that she had the luxury of taking him up on his offer to see the universe. She hesitated a little longer each time and it took another two minutes before she could walk to the door.

"Goodbye, Doctor." She waved at him through the doorway of the blue box. "Don't stay away too long."

Klaxon's sounded, the blue began to fade and then disappeared altogether followed by hallow silence. He was gone again.

Hermione sighed and began the short trek back to her flat and dinner. Ron would have owled several messages to her by now - wondering where she had disappeared to. It had not taken long for her to regret giving him the Watchers Watch that told him where she was at any given moment...except when she was with her Doctor. She smiled. He would be back again.

THE END


End file.
